


Unforeseen Adventures

by Zhuie



Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Discontinued for now, Gen, Modded Skyrim, My First Work, sorry lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:53:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,968
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24962575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zhuie/pseuds/Zhuie
Summary: Ronakh finds some unexpected friends while adventuring to Skyrim from her home in High Rock. That, and a responsibility so big she struggles to believe what she's experiencing is actually real.
Relationships: Eventually maybe some kind of F/F relationship
Comments: 3
Kudos: 8





	1. Bloody Beginnings

_“Well, Frederick… here we are.”_ Ronakh thought to herself as she stepped inside the gates of Markarth. It was an absolutely astonishing city, unlike anything she’d ever seen before. Supposedly, it was actually built by the Dwarves back when they were still around. Whether or not this was true, she didn’t really know. Either way, she looked around briefly and then turned right to find an isolated spot behind the market stalls. She took off her backpack and opened it, making sure no one was around to see inside it. A smile was brought to her face as she looked down at Frederick, a little teddy bear her father had given to her when she was four years old. _“What do you think? Is this a good city? Hm… yeah, I don’t know either. Let’s stay here for a few days to rest up. Who knows, maybe we can find some work to do!”_

Putting her backpack back on, she sauntered on over to the market and began wandering around the city. For a really long time she had wanted to venture out into the world. While her home in Evermore was absolutely wonderful and she missed her friends and family, she had always had this… urge to explore. There was more to Tamriel than one city in High Rock, after all! Now sure, going and exploring a province that is currently in civil war might not be the _greatest_ idea, but Ronakh wasn’t exactly known to have a lot of those. However, she figured she would be fine. What with her mother’s fighting training and her father’s lessons in both Destruction and Restoration magic, she could certainly hold her own. Not to mention that she had a solid set of Orcish armor her mother had handcrafted for her. 

As she walked around, so many things caught her eye. The various waterfalls, the stream going through the entire city, the patterns on the stonework, all the plants overtaking the structures… it was beautiful. She came upon a spot that overlooked what seemed to be one half of the city. In her immediate view was a smithy as well as a much larger stream of water running out to the outside of the city walls. Taking a moment to just stand there and take it in, she closed her eyes and listened to the sounds around her. The rush of the water, the tweeting of the birds… and the rumbling of her stomach. It seemed like it was time to find an inn. After all, she had been travelling most of the day with only some bread and cabbage to sate her. Ronakh walked back the way she came and stepped into the Silver-Blood Inn. It was nice enough, though the passive-aggressive chatter between the two owners wasn't exactly welcoming. Ronakh didn’t care that much though; as long as she could buy herself a nice cooked beef and some potatoes, she didn’t mind what the service was like. 

She spent the next few days there in Markarth chatting with the locals and looking at the architecture. Though one morning, as she stepped out of the inn, something happened. Ronakh had just taken a nice deep breath of fresh air when… 

“The Reach belongs to the Forsworn!” a man shouted, and stabbed a woman in the back. She fell to the ground as the guards around them began attacking the man. Ronakh instinctually helped the guards, throwing some fire spells the man’s way. It didn’t take long before he too fell to the ground. The guards guided people away from the bodies.

“Everyone stay back! The Markarth city guard have this all under control. There are no Forsworn here.” Ronakh stepped up to the guard, and without being able to say a word he continued. “We’ll handle things from here. Move along.”

“... Does this happen often here?” she asked, and the guard huffed.

“Of course not. Now, I said move along. We have everything under control. Stay out of it.”

And with that, Ronakh walked off. Whatever was going on here, she didn’t want anything to do with it. As she walked away though, she heard one of the other guards mumble “Great, another body to clean up…” which was _quite_ worrying. She decided that perhaps it was time to move on to another city. Someplace nicer… someplace less murdery. She had heard that Falkreath was located in a really nice forest. Though… she wasn’t entirely sure where it was. And of course she had completely forgotten to bring any kind of map with her. Couldn’t buy one either, as she was running extremely low on coin. But, she could always ask for directions and follow the signs on the roads.

 _“Let’s get out of this tusked up city.”_ she thought to Frederick and walked out the gates and out into the Reach. Not having nearly enough gold to take a carriage, she began travelling on foot again. It was quite a cold and foggy morning, but the armor she was wearing was insulating enough. As she came upon the first road sign, she was a little confused. There was Solitude, Whiterun, Karthwasten… but no Falkreath. One thing she knew for sure about Falkreath, it was not to the north like Solitude. So, seeing no real other alternative, she crossed over the bridge towards Whiterun. Eventually a sign showing the way to Falkreath would have to pop up, right? 

After walking for a bit, she came across another road sign. That, and about four dead bodies… she wasn’t exactly shocked, but it was a little unsettling. They seemed to be mages of some kind. Not one to let things go to waste, she decided to take the hood from one of the corpses. They wouldn’t be needing it anymore, after all. As she searched the rest of the bodies she found a lot of potions of cure disease, as well as a couple of books and alchemy recipes. She pondered who these people might’ve been as she began walking again, following the signs that lead to Whiterun. What or who could have killed them? For what reason? Her thoughts drifted as she looked up at the silhouettes of the mountains around her. 

Eventually, she reached a point where the towering mountains turned into a far-reaching tundra. She was a little worried that she might have gone the wrong way, but as she turned right and walked a bit further along she came upon another road sign.

 _“Markarth, Solitude, Riften… Falkreath!”_ she read. Finally! She had been going the right way all along. However, before she turned to follow the road up between the mountains she heard clashing of steel and screams of war. Squinting her eyes, she saw what she instantly realized to be a feud between the two warring factions of Skyrim. The Imperials in red and the Stormcloaks in blue. A stray arrow flew past her, and she immediately turned right and began jogging up the road. She was not about to risk getting shot in the knee or something just because she was standing there watching. As she reached the top of the steep road, she decided to take a break. Having been travelling for probably a bit more than an hour, the heavy armor she was wearing was starting to take a little bit of a toll on her. There was what seemed like a border checkpoint of some sort leading into Falkreath, so she felt safe to have a sit down with the guards around. She tried talking to them, but they seemed very into their “guard duty” thing. That wouldn’t stop her from trying though.

“So… what’s it like being a guard? Fun? No? You just patrol around here all day? Sounds kind of boring if you ask me… but hey, any way to make a living right? And I mean, someone has to do it! You know what, thank you guys so much for being guards! I really appreciate you.” she said, smiled and waited for a response. Well, she didn’t _really._ In fact, she was just expecting to be sitting there in silence for a few minutes. But then the guard closest to her mumbled something.

“You’re… welcome.” she said, not even turning her head towards Ronakh.

“No problem!” the Orc said and laughed. For a few more minutes she sat there and looked at the sky until she decided it was time to move on. She noticed some dark clouds starting to roll in and got excited for some rain. Her armor clunked against itself as she stood up, and the guard next to her quickly glanced over before snapping her head back to where she was looking. Ronakh smiled at the guard as she walked past through the gate into the pine forest. “Have a nice day!”

A bit further down the road, she walked past a mill. She didn’t pay it much attention, but as she passed over the bridge, a woman spoke to her. “If you’re looking for work, I’ll buy any firewood you chop up.” The sentence itself wasn’t what unnerved Ronakh. Rather… it was the woman’s eyes, which seemed to be glowing in a shade of orange. 

“That’s great! I’m on my way to Falkreath right now though so I’m a little busy. Perhaps another time!” Ronakh responded after having stared at the woman for a _little_ bit too long. Smiling as always, she walked past her at a bit of a quicker pace. 

It didn’t take too long after that before she reached Falkreath, only about forty five minutes. It was a surprisingly quiet town, not a lot of chatter. She turned right into the local trader, owned by a relatively friendly Nord, to sell off some bits and bobs in hopes to have enough money for some food and a place to stay the night. She managed to make no more than a few septims. It looked like she was going to have to take some kind of odd job if she wanted a warm place to sleep. Luckily for her, such a job wasn’t hard to find. She asked the local innkeeper if there was anything that needed to be done, and she provided her with a bounty note some of the Jarl’s men had come by with. It read that a group of bandits housed in Bilegulch Mine had been harassing and killing people, and that a reward would be given to anyone who managed to kill their leader. Looking at the map, she realized she’d have to go back a good way in the direction she came from. But, having already made the trip once, she could kind of figure out how long it would take. At the very least, she knew she would make it back before sundown. Well… she hoped so, anyway.

As she stepped outside the inn, she saw how those dark clouds from before were really starting to cover the sky. That, and she could sense that familiar smell before a storm rolls in. She was excited about the rain... Until she was struggling through the mud with cold raindrops hitting her face and a strong wind rendering her hood utterly useless. Still, she reached the bandit hideout in good enough time. 

She pulled out her iron war axe and readied a flame spell as she approached the camp. It didn’t take long before the first bandit noticed her presence and attacked. He charged at her in full speed with a greatsword, and her heart rate went up instantly. She shot some flames his way, but it didn’t stop him from reaching her and taking a big swing at her. The blade clashed off her right pauldron, causing her to stagger. A second slash came quickly, but she caught it with her war axe. She burned his hands, forcing him to drop the sword. He tried to fight back with his fists, but Ronakh swiftly ended his life with an axe to the throat. She let out a battle cry as she charged in to take care of the rest of the bandits. As she slashed and burned her way through them, she yelled out.

“You… all… made… _terrible_ decisions in life!” Firmly planting her foot on the shoulder of the last bandit, she pulled her axe out of his head and stepped off. She huffed, now not only covered in mud, but blood as well. There was still the actual mine part left of the camp though, which she assumed the leader was hiding in. And what do you know? She was right. He hadn’t even seemed to notice all the noise outside. Neither did he notice Ronakh walk in there until she was a few meters behind him, casting flames his way. Though unlike every single one of the other bandits, he put up quite the fight. So much of a fight in fact, that by the time it was over Ronakh had to sit down and heal up her wounds with the remaining little sparks of magicka she had left. It took a good ten minutes before she could stand up and was ready to travel back to Falkreath.

After looting the place, including every dead body around, Ronakh set off into the forest. She figured that if she just kept heading southeast, she would come to Falkreath eventually. And while she wasn’t wrong in that regard, there was something quite strange she stumbled upon on her little “shortcut”. A large overgrown root of sorts, stretching about halfway up some of the larger pine trees. But it wasn’t merely a strange lumpy root. It had a door, some steps, and some large lanterns that were roped over it. Could someone be living here? Curiosity got the better of her, and she knocked on the door. 

“Hello? Does anyone live here?” she called out.

“Yes! Come in.” responded a female voice from inside. Ronakh stepped in, and there - amongst a whole lot of torchbugs - sat a petite Bosmer. The Orc looked up in awe of the place, and the Wood Elf spoke. “It’s quite beautiful here, isn’t it?”

Ronakh stumbled over her words, “Uh yeah… it-- it is.”

The Elf spoke about the trees of her homeland, and how the trees of Skyrim seemed to “have no souls at all”. Ronakh asked where she was from, and she said “Valenwood, all the way to the south. What about you, are you from here?”

“No, I’m from High Rock actually.”

“Oh, interesting. Do you know Skyrim very well?” she asked, and the Orc explained that she had only just arrived in Skyrim nearly a week ago. “I see! I don’t suppose you are in need of a travelling companion, are you? I could use someone to show me around this cold, unfamiliar place. I’m a very good archer too, so I could watch your back in return. What do you say?”

Ronakh, really not expecting this stranger living inside an overgrown root to be so friendly, was a little confused yet happy nonetheless. “Uh, yeah! Sure, why not? I guess it would be nice to have someone watching my back for me.”

And so, they set out to go back to Falkreath. They talked a bit on the way, getting to know each other. The Elf’s name was Auri, and apparently she followed something called the “Green Pact”. A part of that was called “The Meat Mandate”, which dictated that a fallen enemy had to be eaten within three days of being killed. This... caught Ronakh a bit off guard. This girl ate… people, if she had to? The thought was disturbing at first, but then she figured… as long as she doesn’t kill people solely for the purpose of eating them, it was fine. Strange, perhaps a bit unsettling, but fine. She seemed to be a nice person after all. 

As they reached the city, the storm had turned into a light drizzle and the sun had started to set. Ronakh realized that perhaps walking into the Jarl’s Longhouse covered in dirt and blood wasn’t the greatest idea, so she decided it might be best to go take a bath at the inn first. But before she had time to reach the innkeeper, a man sitting at a table she walked past spoke to her.

“Excuse me, madam. I don’t normally do this, but.. erm… have you got a moment to talk?”

Slightly confused-- but cheerful nonetheless, she responded “Yeah, of course! What do you need?”

The man introduced himself as Lucien Flavius, along with various titles. “I couldn’t help but notice that you seem… how can I put this… well acquainted with the less savory side of Skyrim?”

Ronakh laughed, “It’s the blood, isn’t it? Yeah, I’ve seen a thing or two in the short amount of time I’ve been here. How so?” she said. Lucien explained that he had gone on an expedition to Skyrim, that the province - everything from its plants to the various ruins - fascinated him. But then, he said, there was a slight problem. He wasn’t much of a fighter, only knew a few spells and could just about swing a sword. So, he needed someone to travel with. Nothing more than that, he simply wanted to tag along to wherever she was heading. He even offered to pay her. Ronakh was a bit unsure, so she looked around for Auri, who had sat down on the other side of the room. “Well uh… firstly I’m not travelling alone right now, that Wood Elf over there is with me. Secondly, I’m not so sure it’d be safe for you to travel with us…”

“Ah, but I’d have the two of you to protect me! And I imagine I might pick up a thing or two from you before long. Come on, what do you say?” he insisted. 

“Alright… very well. But uh, regarding the payment you mentioned... Just how much gold are we talking here?”

“Oh, shall we say three hundred septims up front? After that, I’ll top you off every time we come across something useful to my research. At your discretion, of course. No obligations, save that you take me with you, and assist in keeping me alive wherever possible.”

Ronakh laughed, “Okay, sounds like we’ve got a deal. Welcome to the group, I guess. Well, it’s only just now become a group… ah-- welcome anyway!”

“Haha, splendid! Here’s your gold. This is going to be _quite_ the adventure!” he said and stood up, handing her the three hundred gold as promised. 

“It sure will be! I’m Ronakh, by the way. Nice to meet you! Lucien, was it?”

“Yes! Nice to meet you, as well. Now, where are we off to?” he said with excitement in his voice. 

“Well, as you can probably tell from all the blood, I’ve just come back from clearing a bandit camp. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think visiting the Jarl like this would be such a great idea.”

“Hm no, I suppose it wouldn’t be.”

“Exactly… so, if you don’t mind, you could wait here for a bit while I go see if I can get access to the bath?”

“Oh, of course! I’ll be _right_ here.”

About half an hour of scrubbing later, Ronakh came out smelling fresh like a spring breeze. Well-- more like blue mountain flowers specifically. Either way, she was clean and ready to go talk to the Jarl’s steward. First though, she looked around for her two new travelling companions, and saw them sitting next to each other at a table.

“Hello, I’m back! How do I smell?” she said, walked over to them and put her hands on their shoulders.

Auri huffed, “Like dead plant parts.”

“ _Ahah hah_ … yeah.” Ronakh smiled uncomfortably. “Anyway! What have you guys been talking about?”

Lucien was just about to say something, but Auri cut him off. “Oh, I was just telling him what I told you about The Meat Mandate.”

“Yes, it’s quite… fascinating! Yep! Not at all strange or weird!”

Ronakh laughed, and the three of them walked out of the inn. As they came outside though, the sun had already set. The northern lights were nice, sure, but it’d be no use disturbing the Jarl’s steward this late. So, back in they went. Ronakh rented a room, and they all slept the night there as well as they could, only having a double bed and a few pelts on the floor to share between them. As morning came, Ronakh put on her armor as the other two had some breakfast. Before going to the longhouse however, Ronakh stopped by the trader to finally buy herself a map. That, and some oil for her lantern she hadn’t been able to use for a while. 

Once inside the Jarl’s courtroom, they saw another adventurer collecting payment for a bounty. After said adventurer ran off outside, Ronakh stepped up to the steward and informed her of the bandit leader’s demise. The steward thanked her and gave her a hundred gold. 

“That…” Ronakh said, “That’s it?”

“Yes. We are ever so grateful for your service, of course.”

 _“I made more gold pulling this academic with me than clearing an entire camp of bandits...”_ she thought to herself, but quickly smiled. “Ah, well it was nothing! Happy to help!” she said, and walked off. Once they got outside, she sighed.

“What?” Auri said, tilting her head.

“Nothing, I was just expecting a _little_ bit more than one hundred septims. But oh well! Let’s be off, shall we?”

“Yes,” Lucien said, “certainly! But where to?”

Ronakh stuttered, “Ah-- good question. Uh…” She held out and looked at her newly purchased map, “What uh… what do you guys say about Whiterun?”

“Sounds marvellous!” Lucien said, and Auri laughed.

“Yes, let’s go there. Why not?”

“Well then,” Ronakh said and put the map in her backpack, “let’s be off!”


	2. Not a Problem

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ronakh, now joined by Auri and Lucien, makes her way to Whiterun without anything getting in the way whatsoever.

“Orcish armor, huh? Had me a set of that once. Ugly and strong, like those that forge it.”

Ronakh stopped dead in her tracks. She turned around to look at the guard standing just outside the gates of Falkreath. “Excuse me? _What_ did you just say?” Her heart rate started to pick up and she clenched her fists, “Did you just call my mother ugly!? Did-- did you just call ME ugly!? HOW DARE YOU!?”

“Oh dear--” Lucien said, “let’s maybe just move on? Just pretend this never happened and go on about our day? Please?”

Completely ignoring him, Ronakh walked up to the guard with her fists raised. “What do you have to say for yourself, huh? Huh!? You want to fight!?” she said, or _shouted_ rather. Auri noticed that Lucien was starting to panic a little bit, so she decided (against her better judgement) to walk up to Ronakh and _gently_ push her away from the guard. “What-- what are you doing?”

“We’re leaving now, my dear angry friend.” 

“But-- but I want to beat him up!” Ronakh shouted, still being gently pushed away by the small Wood Elf.

“Yes, yes. You’ll have plenty of time to beat up _other_ people that _won’t_ get us in trouble with the law. Now come on, you can walk by yourself.” she said, keeping her voice as soft and friendly as ever. The three of them walked away, but Ronakh turned her head and shouted to the guard.

“Consider yourself lucky, you bastard!”

They travelled in a line; Ronakh being in the front, Lucien in the middle, and Auri in the back. A bit further up the road, Lucien whispered to the Wood Elf. “How did you do that?” he asked.

“Hm? Do what?” she responded, keeping her voice at a normal volume.

“You _pushed_ her, but she didn’t hit you! How? How did you do that?”

Auri laughed, “It’s like… riding a horse! If you’re nice and gentle with the horse, it will go where you want it to.”

“Ah, yes… just like a horse. I most certainly know how to ride one of those.”

Ronakh rolled her eyes, looked back, and smiled. “You know I can hear you two, right?”

As Auri giggled, Lucien fumbled with his words. “Uh, yes! Of course, we would never talk behind your back - well technically we _are_ behind you so we are - but we would certainly never say anything mean about you! Or compare you to a horse! Never. Right, Auri?”

“Right.” Auri said, giggling again. 

After a few minutes of walking, they came upon a bandit checkpoint of sorts. It consisted of two main towers sloppily built out of wood, with a bridge going between them. As soon as the group got near it, large boulders were released from some kind of trap system and fell down. However… none of the boulders actually hit anyone. 

“Gods be damned, Garvir!” one of the bandits shouted, “I told you not to pull the lever until they were _under_ the bridge!” 

Meanwhile, Auri had already entered into ranged combat with two of the other bandits. She really wasn’t kidding when she said she was a good archer. Ronakh charged at yet another two bandits that had just climbed down, and one of Auri’s targets fell down from the bridge. He landed on the bandit closest to Ronakh, and it gave her the perfect opportunity to chop down on his throat with her axe. It seemed like there was only one bandit left, but then Ronakh heard a certain scholar’s voice along with what sounded like frost magic. She looked behind her, and saw that Lucien was being attacked by a bandit that seemed to have sneaked behind them somehow. 

“Radical suggestion here, but I was just wondering… have you considered _not_ trying to murder me?” Lucien said while seemingly panicking. However, by the time that Ronakh had run over there to try to help him, the bandit was already dead and covered in ice. Lucien took a step back, “I… did it! Did you see that?”

Being genuinely impressed, Ronakh walked up to the man and gave him a (slightly too strong) pat on the back. “You sure did!” she said and looked over to Auri who seemed to be looting the corpse of the last bandit. “Auri, look! Lucien killed one of them!”

Not turning back to look at them, Auri simply responded cheerfully with “That’s great!”

Ronakh laughed and turned to look at Lucien again. “Right, now we’ve just got to loot them all. See if you can find something useful on this one, and I’ll go search some of the others.”

“Right, of course! Searching dead bodies… fantastic. What am I looking for, exactly?”

She shrugged, “Anything that might be of use. Coins, lockpicks, rations… oh and you might want to take that steel sword instead of your iron one.” She said and began walking off towards the other bodies, but then Lucien called for her.

“Hey Ronakh, look! What if I dual wield?” he said, holding both swords in his hands. He waved them around, “Woosh! Shing! Shing! Take that, bandits!”

Ronakh really tried not to, but burst out laughing. “Bahaha! You _could…_ ” she said and walked over to him, gesturing for him to put the swords down. “ _But,_ I think maybe you should stick with magic. Not that I don’t think you’d be lethal with…” she stifled her laughter, “with dual wielded swords. Now come on, I can carry your old sword for you.”

“Yes, I suppose you're right… but, erm… _why_ do you want to carry my old sword? It’s not like I need it anymore.”

“What, you want to throw it away? Nuh uh. You gotta keep your first sword! I’m going to be keeping my first axe, _you’re_ going to be keeping your first sword. Now come on, hand it over.” she said and smiled.

“Alright, but I really don’t see why. It’s... _just_ a sword.” he said, handing it to her.

“Yes, but it’s the very _first_ sword that you had with you on your adventure! You can’t just give it up, that’d be rude.”

“... To the sword?” he asked with one eyebrow raised.

“Yes!” she said and laughed. “Now, we don’t have all day. Let’s actually get to-- by the _gods_ , Auri!” Ronakh exclaimed as the Wood Elf stood up next to the body she had been “looting”... with blood covering her hands.

“What? I told you that I’d try to make an effort to eat at least a _part_ of everything we kill, didn’t I?”

Ronakh took a deep breath, “Yeah. Yeah, you did… I was just not expecting-- you know…”

“Haha, you are just going to have to get used to it, I suppose. Just like I have to get used to you picking whatever plant life that catches your eye.”

“Ah… fair enough.”

The three of them spent the next ten minutes looking for anything that could be of use. One such thing was an Orcish war axe that Lucien stumbled upon. He gave it to Ronakh, saying “Here, my friend! I found a better axe for you!”

Delighted, the Orc took it. “Would you look at that! We both got better weapons today!” She looked over to Auri, “Hey, have you found anything?”

The Elf sighed, “No, just a few coins.”

“Ah… Hey, Lucien! Look!” Ronakh took a backpack from one of the dead bandits. It was made of brown leather, and it had some scrolls and a bedroll. “This is perfect for you, don’t you think?” she said and handed it over to him.

“Ah yes… perfect.” he said and sniffed it. “Smells just _wonderful_.”

“Oh come on, the smell will go away with time. It’s a sturdy backpack! No need to let it go to waste.” She looked around, “Well, I think that’s about as much good stuff as we’re gonna find. Everyone ready to go?”

They continued their journey, and Lucien started humming a tune. Auri joined in, and Ronakh was surprised at how well they harmonized with each other. However, it wouldn’t take long before something else interrupted their trip. This time not any bandits, but a male Orc dressed in iron armor. “What's a milk drinker like you doing out here?” he said as Ronakh approached him, “Go home to your mother.” She clenched her fists immediately and sighed loudly in frustration.

“Sheor’s curse, leave me alone! I’ve already had to deal with _one_ bastard today.”

The other Orc crossed his arms and chuckled, “What are you gonna do? Cry?”

She took a deep breath and narrowed her eyes, “... Back off before this gets bloody.”

“I don’t have to take that from you!” he said, drew his weapon, and took a swing towards her.

“Whoa! Hey, no need to actually--” Before she was really able to process what was happening, the man fell to the ground with an arrow in his throat. She turned around and saw Auri put her bow away. “Auri!? We didn’t have to kill him!”

“But he attacked you…?” 

The Orc sighed, “Yes, but we could’ve just run away!”

Auri flipped her hair out of her face, “Well, I think he deserved it. And besides, I’m feeling like having some Orc meat.” she said cheerfully. Ronakh stared at her uncomfortably, and she laughed. “I’m _kidding_.”

Another twenty minutes went by and not much happened. Ronakh looked up at the sky - which was mostly covered in clouds - and took a deep breath. They were nearing Helgen, and Ronakh figured they could have a look around and maybe have a seat somewhere to rest their legs. 

Walking up the slope to the town, they suddenly heard a loud roar that rumbled the ground. It was unlike anything she had ever heard before, and she had no idea what it might’ve been. Then, they heard an almost equally loud whooshing sound, as if some kind of enormous bird was taking off into the air. The group quickly picked up speed and ran in through the gates, only to find that the entire town was in ruins. Hearing the roaring again in the distance, Ronakh looked up. But... she couldn’t see anything; just the clouds. As she looked around at all the burning collapsed buildings, she started to tear up. What happened here? Where is everyone? What could’ve caused this? She vocalized these thoughts out loud to her friends as they all looked around and made their way through the debris. There were burnt corpses just about everywhere, and the smell was sickening. Looking for any kind of hint as to what happened there, they eventually came upon a journal next to yet another burnt corpse. Ronakh picked it up and handed it to Lucien.

“Mind reading this? It… might say something important.” she said in a much more hushed tone than she usually would. 

“Uh-- certainly! Let’s see here…” Lucien skim read through the pages quickly, “Ah, this is interesting…” He slowed down and read more carefully, “My word! This person, whoever they may have been, seems to have been captured and put in the back of an Imperial cart with _Ulfric Stormcloak!_ And… this last part is scribbled quite frantically…” As he read the words to himself, he seemed to do a double take. “How is that possible…?” he mumbled. “It says here that a _dragon_ swooped down and laid waste to the village and the keep! That must’ve been what we heard! A dragon!”

“No, that’s… that’s not possible.” Ronakh said, “A dragon?” She laughed uncomfortably, “I mean, come on… that has to be made up…”

Auri stepped up, “And if it isn’t? What do we do?”

“Hm… isn’t there a village _really_ close by here?” Lucien said, “Riverwood, I think it’s called? If that really _was_ a dragon that we heard, shouldn't we go warn them?” 

“Yeah, we probably should.” Auri said as Ronakh stayed silent.

“Then what are we waiting for? Those people are counting on us!”

The group made their way to Riverwood as fast as they could, and arrived just as the sun was starting to set. As they walked in past the walls, a woman started yelling. 

“A dragon! I saw a dragon!”

A younger man looked at her, “What? What is it now, mother?”

“It was as big as the mountain and black as night! It flew right over the barrow!”

“Dragons now, is it?” he said and hushed his tone, “Please, mother… If you keep on like this everyone in town will think you’re crazy!” He began walking away, “And I have got better things to do than listen to more of your fantasies.”

The old lady crossed her arms, “You’ll see! It _was_ a dragon! It’ll kill us all and _then_ you’ll believe me!”

Lucien walked up to her, “Excuse me madam, did you say you saw a dragon?”

“Yes! Nobody believes me, but I tell you, it’s true!”

“Yes, my friends here and I think we might have heard it! Did you say you saw where it went?”

The woman pointed behind them, up at a mountain. “It flew right over the barrow! If it comes back, we’re all as good as dead!”

As Lucien spoke to the lady, Ronakh jogged over to the son. “Hey, you there! Your mother is right, there _was_ a dragon. It destroyed Helgen!”

He turned around, “It destroyed Helgen? Truly? Maybe she isn’t crazy after all… You had best tell the Jarl in Whiterun. He needs to know about this.”

Ronakh looked behind her, and it seemed Lucien and Auri were stuck listening to the ramblings of the old lady. “Guys!” she called out, “Come over here!”

The three of them walked into the Sleeping Giant Inn. It was too late in the evening to go running off to Whiterun, they’d decided. So, they’d sleep the night in Riverwood and then head off to speak to the Jarl first thing in the morning. There was another Wood Elf there at the inn named Faendal however, and Auri did _not_ seem to like him. The two of them argued for quite a while, though Auri seemed to have a somewhat happy attitude about it. Lucien had sat down by one of the tables and started writing a letter. Meanwhile, Ronakh was sitting on the hay bed of the room she’d rented for her and Auri. The inn was fairly small, and only had two rooms available at the time. So, the girls shared a room while Lucien stayed in the one next to them. Ronakh pulled out her teddy bear from her backpack and held it close to her chest.

 _“Can you believe it, Frederick?”_ she thought, _“Dragons… they’re real! And we were near one… Imagine if it had seen us, we’d be roasted right now! Gods… How is this even possible? How can a dragon suddenly have appeared out of nowhere?”_

A bit of time passed, and suddenly, she heard Auri’s voice. “Thanks, Lucien! Goodnight!” she said, carrying a bed roll. She entered the room and smiled at Ronakh. “Hi!”

The Orc tried to hide her teddy bear. “Uh-- hi Auri.” she said and smiled back. She was worried the Elf was going to say something about Frederick, but to her surprise, she didn’t. Just rolled out her bed roll on the floor and laid down. Ronakh laid down as well, facing the wall. 

“Well, goodnight!” Auri said.

“Yeah… goodnight.”

As morning came, rays of sunlight shone through the small window and birds started singing. It would’ve been a wonderful thing to wake up to, hadn’t Ronakh’s sleep been interrupted by a certain someone shouting her awake. 

“Good morning, my friends! Come on, get up! It’s a beautiful day outside! The birds are singing, and the flowers have little raindrops on them!” Lucien said, standing in the doorframe. Ronakh sat up, and saw Auri do the same. 

She rubbed her eyes and groaned, “ _Nghh…_ it’s barely even morning, Lucien…”

“Oh nonsense, the sun is going up! And you know what that means...” he said, “It’s adventure time! Oh I can’t wait to get going... when will you two be ready?”

Right at that moment, the innkeeper walked up behind him. “Would you keep it down? You’re waking up the entire inn, damn it!” she said in a hushed, but angry tone. Startled, Lucien turned around and looked down at her. 

“Ah-- _terribly_ sorry, madam!” he said and looked over to his friends, lowering his voice to speak to them. “I’ll be outside when you’re ready!” he half-whispered, and dashed off. Auri practically had to pull Ronakh out of bed if they were going to get out of that inn anytime soon, especially since they’d have to account for the time it took her to put on her armor. A good thirty minutes or so passed, but they eventually stepped outside. It was slightly damp, and just like Lucien said; there were little raindrops on the grass, flowers, and other various plants. He beamed as he saw his friends. “Hello!” he said enthusiastically. “Are we ready to go? We can’t have the Jarl waiting all day, after all!”

The three of them, as always, began walking. They soon picked up speed though, and made it to the farms outside of Whiterun quickly enough. There, they heard what seemed to be people fighting. Upon closer inspection, it was actually three people fighting a giant. Right in the middle of all the crops, too! Ronakh quickly ran up and started casting flames towards it. One of Auri’s arrows whizzed past her and buried itself right in the giant’s face. It had already been injured from the first three people, and these attacks were enough to fell it. One of the three fighters, a redheaded Nord woman, approached the group. She looked at Ronakh and Auri, and then gave Lucien an unimpressed look. She put her hands on her hips in a confident stance and looked back at the two girls.

“Well, you two handled yourselves well. You could make for some decent Shield-Sisters.”

Ronakh looked between Auri and this other woman awkwardly for a few seconds before saying something. “Uh-- thanks? I don't-- what is a Shield-Sister?”

“You're outsiders, eh? Never heard of the Companions?” she asked. Both Auri and Ronakh shook their heads. Lucien started saying something, but was cut off. “An order of warriors. We are brothers and sisters in honour. And we show up to solve problems if the coin is good enough.”

Ronakh looked at Auri, but the Elf just shrugged. Unsure, Ronakh said “That uhhh… sounds interesting! But… uh, we'll think about it.”

“Well,” the woman said and seemed ready to head off, “if you decide you want to join, go talk to Kodlak Whitemane up in Jorrvaskr. The old man's got a good sense for people. He can look in your eyes and tell your worth. Good luck.” With that, she and the other two Companions started to walk away.

As they got outside of hearing range, Lucien crossed his arms. “Well that was rude!” he said, “She didn't acknowledge me at all! Some people, honestly…”

Ronakh looked at him, “I mean… you didn't really do anything?”

He huffed, “I didn't get the chance to! You all killed it so quickly…” he said, sounding a little sad at the end.

In a slight panic, Ronakh quickly took a step closer to the Imperial. “Oh no, I didn't mean it like that! You were really helpful! I promise!”

He sighed, “No, no, I get it… I already told you I'm pretty much useless in combat, didn't I?”

Auri walked up to him, “Sounds like _someone_ needs a hug.” she said and wrapped her arms around him, causing him to jump slightly. “You're _not_ useless, Lucien! Remember that bandit you killed? You did that all by yourself!”

Ronakh put her hand on his shoulder, “Exactly!”

Auri gave him a good squeeze before she let go, and when she did, Lucien had to catch his breath. He smiled, “Thank you… I guess you're right. I may not be able to fight a giant right now, but I'll get there someday!”

The Orc gave him a pat on the back, “Now _that's_ the right attitude!”

They continued onwards towards the city gates. The walls of the city were… in _less_ than perfect condition. That's not to say they didn't seem sturdy though. As they approached the gates, a guard walked up and stopped them. “Halt! City's closed with the dragons about. Official business only.”

Lucien stepped forward, “Ah, you see, we _are_ on official business actually! We just came here from Riverwood, and we're calling for the Jarl's aid.”

“Riverwood's in danger, too?” the guard said, “You'd better go on in. You'll find the Jarl in Dragonsreach, at the top of the hill.” 

“Splendid!” Lucien said, and the three of them walked on in through the gates. The city seemed to be quite busy. A blacksmith was negotiating with an Imperial soldier, a man was transporting firewood, and some kids were running around playing tag. As they walked further into the city they came upon the market, which was bustling with activity as well. They walked up the steps from the market up to a large tree, and saw… a shrine of Talos. There was even a priest there who was sweeping the floor and seemingly tending to the shrine.

“Is that… that’s not allowed, is it?” Ronakh said.

“Yeah, um… I don’t know if the citizens of Whiterun are quite aware, but they’re not actually allowed to worship Talos anymore.” Lucien said and looked around. “No one really seems fussed about this being here though. Curious…” The group continued up the stairs and entered the palace. Ronakh looked at the place in awe. Everything from the high ceiling, the beautiful chandeliers, the large dragon skull mounted to the back wall… it was just breathtaking. “Well, here we are!” Lucien said, “Dragonsreach. Spectacular, isn't it? Let's go chat to the man in the big fancy chair.”

Walking up the stairs, they could hear the Jarl talking to someone, seemingly his steward. However, before they were able to approach him, a Dark Elven woman pulled out her sword towards them. “What’s the meaning of this interruption?” she said, “Jarl Balgruuf is not receiving visitors.”

Ronakh, having taken the lead, answered. “We have been sent here from Riverwood seeking the Jarl’s aid. The village is in danger.”

The Dark Elf looked at her with narrowed eyes, but then softened her expression. “As housecarl, my job is to deal with all dangers that threaten the Jarl or his people. So you have my attention. Now, explain yourselves.”

“Well, we were at Helgen, and after seeing the whole place burned to the ground we--”

“You know about Helgen? The Jarl will want to speak to you personally. Approach.” the housecarl said and sheathed her sword. Ronakh looked behind her to her friends, but then looked over at the Jarl as he began talking to her. 

“So.” he said, “You were at Helgen? You saw this dragon with your own eyes?”

“Uh--” she stuttered, “n-no… we didn’t exactly _see_ it, we _heard_ it… But there was an old lady who saw it! She said it flew over the barrow on the mountain… this way, actually.”

“By Ysmir, Irileth was right!” the Jarl said and turned to his steward. “What do you say now, Proventus? Shall we continue to trust in the strength of our walls? Against a dragon?” he said, but before the man was able to answer, the housecarl walked up and said that they should send troops to Riverwood at once. The steward didn’t seem to agree however, as he thought that the Jarl of Falkreath would assume they’re joining Ulfric Stormcloak and getting ready to attack. Jarl Balgruuf wasn’t having it. “Enough! I’ll not stand idly by while a dragon burns my hold and slaughters my people!” he said, and told his housecarl to send that troop to Riverwood regardless. 

The steward walked off, “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll return to my duties.”

Slightly annoyed, the Jarl watched him leave. “That would be best.” he said. Then, he looked back at the three friends (who had been just standing there awkwardly the entire time). He thanked them for coming to him and gave them some steel armor as a reward. A bit strange, Ronakh thought, but was thankful nonetheless. “There _is_ another thing you could do for me…” he said, “Suitable for people of your particular talents, perhaps. Come, let’s go find Farengar, my court wizard. He’s been looking into matters related to these dragons and… rumors of dragons.” He stood up and started walking over to the right, and the group quietly followed. They gave each other some confused looks, all wondering where this was going. The Jarl walked into a side room, where there was an enchanting table, an alchemy table, and a large map of Skyrim… as well a court wizard standing behind a desk. “Farengar, I think I’ve found some people who can help you with your… dragon project. Go ahead and fill them in with all the details.”

As the Jarl walked out of the room, the wizard looked among the three friends. He fixed his eyes on Lucien, “So the Jarl thinks you can be of use to me? Oh yes, he must be referring to my research into the dragons.” he said in a monotone voice. “Yes, I could use someone to fetch something for me.”

Seemingly a little offended, Lucien mumbled, “Fetch?”

“Well, when I say fetch, I really mean delve into a dangerous ruin in search of an ancient stone tablet that _may_ or may not actually be there.”

“Well you’re really selling it…” Lucien said, “What does this have to do with dragons?”

Still monotone, but seemingly lighting up, the wizard responded. “Ah, no mere brute mercenary, but a thinker - perhaps even a scholar?”

“Yes, I am!” Lucien said, beaming.

The wizard continued, not really seeming to care. “... You see, when the stories of dragons began to circulate, many dismissed them as mere fantasies, rumors. Impossibilities. One sure mark of a fool is to dismiss anything that falls out of his experience as being impossible.” Ronakh was glad that Lucien was talking to him as he continued. Not nearly soon enough, he came to the important part. “I, uh, learned of a certain stone tablet said to be housed in Bleak Falls Barrow - a Dragonstone, said to contain a map of dragon burial sites. Find this tablet - no doubt interred into the main chamber - and bring it to me. Simplicity itself.”

Cheerfully, Lucien said “Oh, of course we will! We’d love to go to Bleak Falls Barrow! I at least have wanted to go there since I first laid eyes on it! I just find Nordic ruins the most _fascinating_ places! Don’t you?” he continued rambling, but then stopped. He thought for a moment… “Although, come to think of it, I do believe there might be a _slight_ possibility of there being draugr… You know, ancient Nordic zombies. And just on reflection, those aren’t _really_ a hundred percent my favourite thing? Just… as a concept? So--”

Ronakh cut him off, “Yeah, yeah, we’ll go to the barrow. Where is it and how do we get there?”

“You’re straight to the point, eh? Well it’s near Riverwood, a miserable little village a few miles south of here. I’m sure the locals can point you in the right direction once you get there.”

As the conversation seemed to be done, the Jarl spoke to Farengar. He said that this “Dragonstone” thing was a priority now. That anything they can find to help fight this dragon - or _dragons_ \- was needed quickly, before it was too late. He turned to the three friends, “Succeed at this, and you will all be rewarded. Whiterun will be in your debt.”

Ronakh smirked, “Bribing us, are you? Well, we’ve already agreed to go. So… I mean…” she tried to be suave, but it was going downhill fast. “Yeah. Not, uh… you didn’t have to. But we will for sure be taking that reward when we’ve found the tablet! Cause… we will!”

Auri, having been silent the entire time, took this awkward moment as her opportunity to get them out of there. “Yes, we will. We will also be leaving now.”

And so they did.


	3. Friends and Draugr

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a nice chat at the Bannered Mare, the group of friends delve into a Nordic ruin in search of the ancient Dragonstone.

The busy sounds of people talking in the market faded as Ronakh and her friends stepped into the Bannered Mare. It was noon, and only three other people were there quietly having a drink. The place smelled quite strongly of mead, but also of food and fire. It had a nice and cozy atmosphere, one that also seemed so typically Nord. Ronakh was feeling quite hungry, so she went over to the innkeeper and bought herself her favourite dish; cooked beef and baked potatoes. She really never could get tired of it. Looking back towards the entrance, she saw how Lucien and Auri had sat down at a table. Lucien waved at her and she sat down to join them.

“We should all get to know each other, don’t you think?” he said and smiled. “We  _ are _ probably going to be spending a lot of time together after all!”

“I guess so.” Ronakh said, and Auri agreed. “So uh… do we just ask each other some questions, and see where we go from there?”

“Sure, sounds like an excellent idea!” 

“Right…” The Orc thought for a moment and took a bite of the beef, “So, I’m from High Rock. You, Lucien, are from… Cyrodiil?” 

“Indeed! I grew up in the Imperial city - mostly with my nose in a book.” he said with a smile.

“Knew it. And you’re from Valenwood, yeah?” she said and looked at Auri.

“I sure am! Born and raised.” the Elf said and giggled.

“Oh, would you mind telling us more about the Green Pact?” Lucien chimed in, “It’s so interesting hearing about it from someone who grew up with it.”

“Sure! So, the Green pact is the agreement my people made with Y’ffre. In return for her protection and blessing, we swore to never eat or harm any plant life or vegetation. Instead, we only eat meat, and our homes are magically grown. And, like I’ve already said, the Meat Mandate indicates that any enemy that is killed must be eaten. There… isn’t really much more to it.”

“Most interesting! I don’t believe many Wood Elves in Skyrim follow the Pact though, how do you feel about that? You were arguing with someone back in Riverwood, if I recall correctly?”

Auri sighed, “Yes. Faendal… While the Green pact only applies to plants in Valenwood, and chopping wood in Skyrim is technically not a crime, that doesn’t mean it’s not absolutely disgusting.” Her expression turned sour, “He ought to be ashamed of himself. How does he sleep at night?” she said and crossed her arms, leaning back in her seat.

“Ah… good question! Perhaps he doesn’t know about the Green Pact?”

“He  _ should _ … Anyway, I don’t really want to talk about this anymore.” Auri said and looked away dismissively. 

Lucien was just about to say something, but Ronakh unintentionally interrupted him. “Are you okay?” she said. 

The Elf sighed, “Yeah… I just… It’s nothing.”

“Alright, but if there’s anything you want to talk about, we’ll listen.”

“Thanks…” Auri said and smiled, though she still wouldn’t hold eye contact. Ronakh decided to move on.

“So, what uh… what brought you guys to Skyrim?”

Lucien perked up, “Oh, so many things! The culture, the architecture, but most of all, the enormous Dwemer presence here. The technology the Dwarves possessed all those years ago is miles beyond us, even today! The chance to study it in person… I just couldn’t resist!”

Ronakh laughed, “Nerd.” she said and smiled. 

Lucien looked confused, “What?”

“You’re a nerd.” 

“A nerd? What in the world is one of those? Is it some kind of lesser Daedra? Or perhaps an alchemical ingredient? Ooh, or is it a--”

Ronakh facepalmed, “It’s-- uh, it’s an Orc thing. Well, I think so anyway… My mother calls my father that. It originates from a book, I think…”

“Oh? So it’s not a Dunmer surname spelled backwards?”

“What? No.” She laughed, “It’s like… Hm, I guess the term is similar to  _ bookworm _ .”

“Oh. Well then yes - I am a nerd! What about it?”

Ronakh stared at him for a few seconds. “... You know what, nevermind.” she said and laughed. Looking over at Auri for a brief moment, she noticed the Elf was smiling slightly. Though… her mind still seemed to be elsewhere. She looked back at the Imperial, “Anyway…”

“I’ve got a question!” Lucien said, “You mentioned your parents. What are they like?”

“Oh, they’re great people. Quite the odd couple I guess, being an Orc and a Breton.”

“ _ Ohhh _ , that’s why you’re shorter than I would have expected!” Lucien chimed in. Ronakh stared at him with a stern expression, and he instantly tensed up. “Uh-- sorry! I didn’t mean-- um, you’re  _ very _ tall! Extremely tall, even! … Please don’t hit me.”

She sighed a laugh, “ _ Anyway, _ their names are Oscar and Khorga. And, like I said, they’re great people. They’ve always been really nice, and I’ve learned lots from both of them… What about your parents? What are they like?”

“Well, there’s my father - Davidicus. He’s an academic, like me, always up to his elbows in old scrolls. He does a lot of consultancy work for the Imperial government. Hunts down relics for them, that sort of thing. I’d be lying if I said we always saw eye-to-eye, but I owe a lot to him, and he’s very dear to me.”

Ronakh smiled, “Your father’s an academic too? So is mine.”

“Really? What does he do?”

“He does research on the various historical locations in High Rock - both from other people’s information and from hands-on experience - and then he writes reports on them. The local library pays a surprising amount to have his findings among their stock, actually. Well, not so much that we’re really well off or anything…”

“Ah, I see! That’s really interesting.”

Suddenly, Auri stood up. “I’m going to go out and have some fresh air. I’ll be back soon.” she said. Her voice didn’t sound quite as worked up as before, but there was still that sense of sadness there. Ronakh decided not to stop her though. As she didn’t know that much about her yet, she didn’t know if this was something Auri did to feel better, or to escape. She hoped for the former.

“Alright… just, make sure you do come back, okay? And remember, if you want to talk--”

“--About anything, you’ll listen. I know.” she said and smiled, “I… I might tell you about it later. I just want to go out and… I don’t know. I might visit the Drunken Huntsman to buy some more bone arrows.” 

“Ah, okay. Well… have fun, haha.”

The Elf giggled, “Of course. I won’t be long.” she said and walked out the inn. As soon as the doors closed behind her, Ronakh sighed.

“I hope she’s okay…” she said. “But anyway… um, we were talking about our parents? What, uh… what’s your mother like?”

“Ah, Captain Lyra of the Imperial Legion. She and I couldn’t be more different, but she’s always supported me in everything I’ve done.”

“Your mother is an Imperial Captain? That’s awesome!” Ronakh said excitedly, leaning forward at the table.

“Yes! She fought against the Thalmor in the Great War - in fact, she was there for Lord Naarifin’s defeat at the Battle of the Red Ring!”

“Really? You must’ve heard that story about a hundred times when you were little, huh?”

He laughed, “Yes! But only because I kept asking her to tell it, really. It’s such an exciting story, I should tell it to you sometime!”

Ronakh took a swig of water. “Of course, it’d be interesting to hear! But uh… is she fighting in this war too, or…?”

“Oh goodness, no. She retired to marry my father and raise me. But despite her career, she never tried to force me onto the same path.” He smiled, “By the time I was old enough to hold a book, it was clear I was going to follow my father into the academic world. And she was delighted for me.”

“Aw, she sounds very sweet.” Ronakh smiled.

“She is! In a very Imperial Captain kind of way.” Lucien said and laughed. “You know, I write to her fairly regularly - my father, too. And while she worries, I think she’s proud of me for going on this expedition. I hope so, anyway…”

Finishing her lunch, the Orc wiped her mouth. “I’m sure she is.” She stood up, “Now, this Bleak Falls Barrow place sounds like it might be trouble. You in particular are-- are you listening?” she said and looked down at him. He was reading a flyer that had been laying on the table the entire time, but then quickly looked up.

“What? Ah, yes! It’s really exciting, isn’t it?” he said and pushed the flyer away slightly. “To get to explore a genuine Nordic ruin… there’ll be so much to study! So much to record! What fun!”

The Orc looked down at the flyer and started to read it.  _ “HELP WANTED”  _ it said. She began reading the rest of it, but got tired of the jumping letters rather quickly. Pushing the paper back to Lucien, she said “ _ Help wanted _ … with what?”

“There’s a museum opening in Solitude, apparently! The curator is looking for treasure hunters, and wants them to apply in person if they want to help out.” He looked down at the flyer again, “Oh, and any deliveries of  _ authentic artifacts _ will be well compensated. That kind of sounds like fun, doesn’t it? We’ll be delving into a Nordic ruin now anyway, so why not go and see if we can offer our help? What do you think?”

“Sure, I don’t see why not. Maybe we’ll find something down there we can show to this  _ curator _ . But, before that, you need to take this.” Ronakh said and handed him the steel armor they’d been given by the Jarl. She could tell from his facial expression that he wasn’t particularly excited about it. “It’ll protect you much better than… well, clothes.”

After Lucien had put on the heavy armor, the two of them walked out of the inn to go look for Auri at the Drunken Huntsman. With any luck, she would still be there. Being entirely new to the city, it took them a little while to find the place. They stopped near the gates where the housecarl was ordering some guards to go to Riverwood. There, to their right, Lucien saw the sign to the place they were looking for. Inside, they saw Auri having a chat with the other Bosmer at the counter. As she saw them, she waved and smiled. Ronakh sold off a few things, and after a little while, the three of them walked out. The next stop, Ronakh decided, would be the blacksmith. They didn’t have a lot of gold, but surely they would be able to afford some more armor for Lucien, right?

Walking into the store, Ronakh spoke to the shopkeeper. As she did, she heard how Auri whispered something to Lucien. He quickly responded in a hushed, but hearable tone. “What? No! We’re  _ not _ going to be stealing.”

Ronakh sighed and looked at the man behind the counter. “I’m sorry, they won’t be trouble. I have my eye on them.” she said and looked back. Lucien had his arms crossed and Auri was smiling innocently. Soon, she bought what they needed and they all walked back out onto the street. The Orc handed Lucien the Imperial bracers and boots she’d bought him, and he put them on. Proud, Ronakh put her hands on her hips. “There you go! Now nothing can hurt you! Unless they aim at your head… but it’s fine! That’s what ducking is for.”

As they walked out the gates, Ronakh could see how the sun was just starting to set over the mountains. It radiated quite a beautiful pink-ish peach colour over the blue, yet cloud-covered sky. They wouldn’t have time to go to the barrow today, but Riverwood wasn’t too far from Whiterun. It would be fine, Ronakh thought. There wouldn’t be a storm, Ronakh thought… She thought wrong. It got dark rather quickly, and as they were walking up the road past the meadery, it started to rain. Jogging past a Thalmor patrol, Ronakh couldn’t help but feel bad for her friends. Neither of them had a hood or any kind of protection from the cold rain. Thankfully though, they reached Riverwood and could take shelter inside the inn for the night. 

After having chatted with Lucien for a while, Ronakh walked over to Auri who was sitting alone after having argued with Faendal again. The Orc sat down next to her and asked what was wrong.

“I don’t know.” the Elf sighed, “I suppose I’m feeling a little homesick. Don’t get me wrong, Skyrim is really beautiful in its own way but… It’s not Valenwood.”

“Oh, I see… Have you thought about returning home someday?” Ronakh said, and got quite worried at the quick answer she got.

“I can’t go home.” Auri said, looking away.

“What? Why not?”

“I’d rather not get into it right now… Maybe I’ll explain some other time.”

She looked so sad… “Is there anything I can do to make you feel better…?”

Auri smiled gently, “Thank you for asking, but I don’t know. I really just miss the lushness of the forest, the secret rivers and the sun through leaves…” she said and sighed.

The rest of the night went on rather quietly. Ronakh had gone to take a bath, and soon they were all sleeping. When the morning came, it was still raining. Waiting wasn’t really an option here, they had to get going as soon as possible. Maybe it would stop raining by the time they had bought supplies at the local trader, Ronakh thought. As they stepped inside, the owners of the shop were arguing about something. A stolen golden claw? One of the owners, the man behind the counter, noticed Ronakh and her friends walking in. He apologized to them and tried to play it off like nothing had happened, but Ronakh walked up to him and asked about it. 

“I don’t know what you overheard,” he said, “but the Riverwood Trader is still open. Feel free to shop.”

“Did something happen?” she asked, one eyebrow raised.

The man began to stutter, “Uh yeah, we did have a bit of a… a break-in. But we still have plenty of things to sell! Robbers were only after one thing…”

“A golden claw?” she said and looked back to her friends, “We could find it for you, maybe?”

The man lit up, “You could? I’ve got some coin coming in from my last shipment. It’s yours if you bring my claw back.”

The woman he previously argued with, who had taken a seat over by a small table, crossed her arms. “So this is your plan, Lucan? Send someone else off so I don’t have to go? Well, I think your new helpers here need a guide.”

He stuttered again, “Wh-- no… I… Oh, by the Eight, fine. But only to the edge of town!”

The group walked out of the shop and through the town towards the bridge leading to Whiterun. The woman, Camilla, explained along the way that this golden claw was something Lucan had found about a year after he opened the trader. He’d never explained to her where he got it, apparently. As they got to the bridge, she stopped.

“The path up the mountain to the northwest leads to Bleak Falls Barrow. You’ll know you’re in the right place when you spot the old watchtower. Once you get there, head north. The barrow should be just around the corner further up.”

The three friends all thanked her, and she walked back into town. Travelling up the path on the mountain, they had to fend off against a wolf. It wasn’t much of a challenge however, and they were back on their way. As they got further up, the rain faded into snow. Soon, they spotted the watchtower in the distance. It was overrun by bandits, and even though Lucien tried to reason with them, they attacked on sight. Quickly, Ronakh charged in with her axe and cut down the first bandit. It didn’t take long until the tower was cleared, and they even found a nice steel rapier for Lucien. That, and they looted some of the bandits for some furs to wear. They were a little bloody, sure, but it was better than freezing to death. 

After a few turns of the path, they came upon the barrow, which was actually much bigger than Ronakh had expected it to be. 

“Here we are! Bleak Falls Barrow! Home of the Ancient Nords, but more importantly, bandits who seem terribly eager to murder us! What fun!” Lucien said, a faint hint of fear in his voice. 

Auri giggled, “Looks like my breakfast will be turning into a full course meal!”

Fighting their way into the barrow, the group soon came upon a small camp inside the ruin. The two bandits there were easily killed. A locked chest was there as well, and Auri offered to open it. Ronakh watched as she made quick work of the lock with a lockpick, and was quite amazed by the process. 

“Would you teach me how to do that?” she asked, and the Elf smiled. 

“Of course!” she said. Inside the chest were forty or so gold coins, one healing potion, and one stamina potion. Quickly moving on down a set of stairs, they delved deeper into the ruins. Ronakh found an old amulet on a table, and shoved it into her knapsack. The place was almost like a labyrinth, with twists and turns around every corner. It was a little unsettling that they hadn’t come across any enemies down there yet, Ronakh thought. It wasn’t like she was scared per say, she was just very aware of what was in the shadows. Which, in most cases, was nothing more than a few cobwebs. Though, it seemed as if Auri was a little more on edge than she was. Out of nowhere, she jumped. “What was that?” she said quickly. “Oh…” she giggled, “My shadow.”

Delving deeper, there was a tunnel that went straight forward with a locked door to the right. Ronakh walked over to the door and grabbed a few lockpicks from her knapsack. “Can you show me how to do this?” she said, looking at Auri. The Elf happily agreed, and showed Ronakh how to pick the lock. Meanwhile, Lucien walked around and looked at the stonework, making various comments about it. Ronakh tried her best with Auri’s instructions, but three broken lockpicks in, she was ready to give up. Suddenly, Auri put her hands on hers. 

“Here, like this.” she said, and guided Ronakh’s hands. The Orc could feel her face heat up a little bit, and her heart started to beat a little faster. Trying to focus on the lock as much as possible, she stared down at it. Soon, it clicked open. The two of them stood up and opened the door, and saw how it led to another seemingly smaller tunnel system. Auri called Lucien over, and he cautiously followed. Only a little bit further down, Ronakh heard a haunting sound. She turned around quickly, and behind her was a draugr. She pulled out her axe as it stepped out of it’s little cove. Yelling, she shot fire at it, and Lucien did the same. In a matter of seconds, it was dead… for good, hopefully. 

“That…” Lucien said, “was terrifying.”

Moving on, the group had their weapons at the ready. The tunnels were small and cramped, and it seemed like it was merely a burial ground. Then suddenly, they heard what sounded like a trap activating, and shortly after, a man’s yell. Ronakh was worried it was Lucien at first, but he was fine. The sounds actually sounded more like they came from somewhere above them. Soon, they found a staircase that led back up, with a barred metal door. Ronakh pulled a lever to open it, and they walked up. Directly to their left were lots of urns, and a little further up was a large metal gate. Looking through the bars, Ronakh could see a dead man on the other side. Recently deceased, by the looks of it. To the right was a lever, which the Orc pulled, and the gate opened. There was a relatively large room, with three strange pillars to their right. Ronakh went over to search the body while Lucien inspected the room. On the body were a few coins, a silver necklace, and a torch. 

Meanwhile, Auri had walked up a staircase to a small platform above them. 

“Finding anything?” Ronakh asked as she looked up. 

“Just a potion of healing. I haven’t checked the urns over there though.” the Elf answered and pointed over to the staircase, to the right of which there was a small section filled with large urns. Ronakh walked over and started looking through them. As she did, Lucien commented on the three small pillars. 

“I think I know what these are.” he said, and Ronakh looked over to see him turning one of them. “This is one of those ancient Nordic puzzles. These pillars here must have something to do with those carvings up  _ there _ , perhaps they correspond with each other…” 

“Well, we already opened the gate so… should we get going?” Ronakh said, on her way back the way they came. She yelled as Auri dropped down from the platform above, but she seemed to be fine. Reluctantly, Lucien followed them. In the comparably small room, they kept looting. It was surprising how these old gems and such were still in good condition. They could earn some good coin selling this stuff! As they explored, they heard some pitter patter from the round staircase to their right. Soon, three skeevers were attacking them and Lucien was yelling in panic. It didn’t take much to kill them, but it was still a little scary nonetheless. Those things could carry gods-only-know how many diseases. 

“Hey Auri,” Ronakh said, “you gonna eat these, too?”

The Elf giggled, “I would if I had to. Luckily, I didn’t attack them. You did.” she said, smiled, and started to walk down the wooden steps. Down there was yet another tunnel system. Though, as they delved deeper, Ronakh heard someone’s voice. It was distant, but she could just make out the words.

“Is someone coming? Is that you Harknir? Bjorn?” His voice got desperate, “Soling? I know I ran away with the claw, but I need help!” The group soon came across a doorway that was blocked by spider webs. Ronakh slashed her way through with her axe, but quickly regretted it as an enormous spider came down from the ceiling. It had several bleeding wounds already, so it was relatively easily taken down… especially with the help of one of Auri’s arrows being shot in its face. All the while, the man they’d heard before - a Dark elf - was shouting nonsense in panic. It seemed he had been strung up to the wall by the spider, and he was stuck there. As the spider died however, he seemed to calm down. “You did it, you killed it. Now cut me down before something else shows up.” he said. However, Ronakh was sceptical. 

“You have the golden claw, right? The one that was stolen?”

“Yes, the claw. I know how it works. The claw, the markings, the door in the Hall of Stories. I know how they all fit together!” he said and wriggled in the web. “Help me down and I’ll show you. You won’t believe the power the Nords have hidden there.”

Ronakh looked back at her friends, and they awaited her response. She knew not to trust bandits, so she was unsure. Looking back up at the man, she said “Fine... Scream if I accidentally cut you.” Carefully, she began cutting the web. The blade of her axe quickly got stuck in the stickiness. Changing her approach, she yanked it out and instead slashed in a broad swoop. 

“It’s coming loose, I can feel it!” the bandit said, and with another slash, he wriggled free. 

“There you go. Now--” Ronakh began to say, but was cut off.

“You fool! Why should I share the treasure with anyone?” said the man and started to run away into a tunnel behind him. The three friends chased after him, until they ended up in a burial chamber and awoke many of the draugr that were resting there. Ronakh tried to fend them off him so they could have a civil conversation, but… he died rather quickly. After finishing off the remaining undead, Ronakh kneeled down to see what he carried on him. The only things of importance she found was a journal… and the golden claw! Now they just needed to find that Dragonstone and get out of there. She stuffed both the journal and the claw into her knapsack and stood up. 

“So, I was thinking…” Lucien said suddenly, “You have a bow that you don’t ever actually use…” Ronakh looked over her shoulder at the bow she’d been carrying around. “And, well, I think it would be useful for me to have one for when I’m running low on magicka. Don’t you?”

The Orc smiled and handed him the bow, “Yeah, of course! I don’t think I’m ever going to get the hang of how to use one of these anyway. Here you go.”

Auri chimed in, “I could teach you two how to shoot!” she said, smiling. 

Lots of traps, draugr, looting, walking around in circles and getting lost later, they arrived in a wide tunnel. Along the walls were ancient carved images, all seemingly having some kind of meaning. At the end of the tunnel was a large door, which had three symbols on it. Ronakh took out the torch she’d picked up earlier and lit it with some fire magic. “This has to be the Hall of Stories the bandit was talking about…” she said and looked at the carvings in awe. Lucien was following closely behind her, seemingly analyzing the images. They walked over to the door and had a closer look.

“Look at that… that’s the shape of the claw, isn’t it?” Lucien said and pointed to a big circle in the middle of the door. It had a carving that  _ did _ sort of look like the claw. Above the image there were three holes, one at the end of each claw. Maybe the claw was supposed to fit into them somehow? Like a keyhole? Ronakh brought it out from her backpack and placed it in. Nothing happened. She tried turning it like a key, which worked, but had no effect. “It’s got to have something to do with these three symbols…” the Imperial said, putting his hand on his chin and analyzing the three rings above the keyhole. On each ring there was a carving of an animal. He put a hand on the top one, turned it, and a different animal carving spun into place. Taking a step back, he seemed to take a moment to think. “Would you mind handing me the claw for a moment? I just want to take a look at it.” he said, and Ronakh happily gave it to him. As he examined the claw, the Orc looked back over at Auri and called her over. 

“Isn’t this place amazing?” she said, “Well, aside from the terrifying undead monsters.” 

The Elf giggled, “Yeah, it’s interesting. But, to be honest, I much prefer being outside in the forests and nature.” she said and yawned, “Not to mention that we’ve been down here for…” Another yawn, “A really long time now.”

“Aha!” Lucien suddenly said, and the two girls turned around to look at him. “I’ve got it now! The code is right here on the claw!” Quickly, he began spinning the rings until the animal carvings were in the order of a bear, a moth, and an owl. As he placed the claw in the keyhole and turned it, the door finally opened. Lots of dust and dirt fell down as it lowered into the ground. Beyond the door was a large cavern. It was quite beautiful, really. Ronakh and Auri began to walk towards the larger open part of it, but they quickly realized Lucien wasn’t following them. They turned around to see that he was examining some kind of old abandoned dig site. 

Ronakh yawned, “Lucien, I don’t wanna be down here any longer than I have to…”

“But look at all the potential for research here!” he said, grabbing a hammer and a chisel. “Please, can you just wait for… ten minutes? Just ten minutes, and then I promise I’ll be done!”

Half an hour later, Lucien’s leather backpack was absolutely filled with old Nordic fragments. The two girls had dozed off next to each other a little bit away from him, but were promptly awoken as he walked over. Ronakh rubbed her eyes as she stood up, and they were soon on their way over a small natural bridge. Once they passed it and made their way up a few steps, Ronakh began to hear something rather… strange. It sounded like some sort of chanting, but she couldn’t make out what language it was in. Then, as a rounded wall came into view, she could see some sort of runes… calling to her. Spirals of light seemed to be almost dragging her towards it. The chanting got louder and louder as she walked closer… She could feel Auri put a hand on her shoulder.

“Are you… okay?” she asked, sounding quite worried. 

The Orc didn’t turn around. “Can’t you hear that? Can’t you  _ see _ that?”

Lucien answered, “What, the faint and fascinating yet extremely unsettling chanting in the background? Why yes, what about it?” he said, a hint of fear in his voice. 

“It’s…” Ronakh began to say, but as she stood right in front of the wall she suddenly felt a wave of words and knowledge wash over her. But… she couldn’t understand any of it. Her vision got all blurry, and it was like she couldn’t think. Soon, it was over, and she was just standing there dumbfounded. She heard how Lucien was just about to say something, but was cut off as a coffin opened behind them. Out of it stepped a draugr, and the group immediately drew their weapons and began to attack it. Ronakh charged at it with her axe while Lucien casted flames from the side. The draugr shouted some words in its ancient language, and a strong gust of wind suddenly pushed Ronakh backwards. She quickly got back up and saw one of Auri’s arrows hit the monster’s chest. It seemed to be right on death’s door, but was still standing. The Orc charged at it again, and buried the blade of her axe into its skull. Struggling to pull it back out, she watched as the light in its eyes faded. With one quick pull, her axe flew out of the cracked kranium. She breathed heavily, and wiped the sweat off her brow. 

Lucien, standing off to the side, said “Phew! That was... quite the battle.” He walked over to the dead draugr, “Slightly terrifying. Glad we didn’t die.” Kneeling down, he picked up a rock that had fallen out of some kind of bag the monster had been carrying. He held it up, “And look! We have a fancy rock!” 

Auri walked up over to the coffin and looked around. “Is that it, then?” She yawned, “Can we leave?”

“I suppose so.” said the scholar, “But… would you two awfully mind if I took a look first? At the Dragonstone, I mean? It wouldn’t take more than a few minutes, I swear.”

Auri sighed and answered as Ronakh looted a chest, “Fine.”

“Oh, thank you.” he said and held the stone up in front of him, analyzing it. “Hm… Yes, this is fascinating! Fascinating! It looks like a map of some description.” He flipped it over, “And here, on the reverse… some kind of text. I’m uncertain of the language, but it looks old… very old. Perhaps Farengar can tell us more.”

Ronakh walked over to him and gently took the Dragonstone from his hands. “Let’s hope so.” She put it in her backpack, “Now, let’s get out of here. Wherever the exit is…” 

“Up here!” Auri shouted from atop a set of stairs. Up there, she pulled some kind of handle, and what had seemed like a regular rock wall was revealed to be some sort of secret exit that led into a small cave. Soon, they walked out of there and out onto a steep cliff. They had really been down there for a long time, as it was surely past midnight at this point. The sky was clear and lit up with beautiful cyan northern lights.

Ronakh put her hands on her hips, “Well. Time to get back to Riverwood, then…”


End file.
